John Gunter

Thoughts on Life and Living

A Chinese parable and the Gospel

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young.old.Chinese_editedToday in class (yes, I am still taking language class!), we studied several local parables.  The one that stuck out is the one at the top of this article.  The basic meaning in English is “if you don’t work hard when you are young and vigorous, you will suffer hardship when you are old.”

Parables are, by definition, short and packed with meaning well beyond the words.  This parable has been used to motivate generation after generation of children to work hard and make good decisions so they won’t be tortured with with an awful life in the future.  As my teacher put it, “if you waiste your youth, it’s too late!  You can’t do anything about it when you are old.”

I like Chinese parables, I really do.  The Chinese are particularly blessed with a rich heritage of parabolic literature that we in the west can only look at and marvel.  This one, like all of them, has a [Read more…]

Upon second look. . . David and Goliath

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David-And-Goliath-69251
Henderson vs. Tucker. . .um, I mean David vs. Goliath

It was the first game of the season. We had just completed summer football 3-a-days (yes, we had three practices a day in the Atlanta August heat). All off season, we had heard of the greatness of the Tucker team, led by a consensus all-American defensive end/fullback. Personally, it was my first big varsity game as a starter AND it was against the school where I knew many of the players (and fans from both sides). The stadium would be packed. To say the least, I was nervous.

Sitting in the courtyard of my high school an hour before getting on the bus to the stadium, our head coach sat us down for the climatic pre-game motivational talk. To my surprise, Coach Wilson raised a Bible, opened it to 1 Samuel 17, and promptly read the story of David and Goliath. The general theme. . . with faith, you can accomplish anything. Coach Wilson’s point was that with faith, we could beat our Goliath, Tucker. We were, I suppose, David.

We lost in an embarrassing blow-out. Goliath dominated us. 

No offense to Coach Wilson, whom I really liked and respected, but upon second look, he completely missed on the main point of this story (and clearly the “motivational talk” was ineffectual as well).

Read this story again (1 Samuel 17), as I have this past week and see what you think. Upon second [Read more…]

The Leadership/Popularity Conundrum

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MichaelScott
NO THIS IS NOT ME. . . Michael Scott was often an example of failed leadership by trying to gain popularity.

Popularity, to some extent, is often what brings people into positions of leadership.  Whether it is to the position of CEO, president of a country, student government, the garden club, or the Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin, popularity plays some role in people being placed in positions of leadership.  You advance at work by being popular with your bosses, in politics by having more votes than anyone else, and at school by having the most friends.  You even gain “leadership of a family” by being popular with your girlfriend to the point of her agreeing to marriage.  Then it comes time to lead and the followers (employees or voters or teammates or. . .) want their absolute way in everything.  I’m no different in times of being subordinate to people.

Leading based primarily upon popularity will eventually end in the failure of the leader.  Leadership is anything but a popularity contest.  Leadership 101 is that “you can’t please everyone, every time.”  It is my experience that in leadership, though, this doesn’t go nearly far enough.  In reality, with very few exceptions, it should be “you WILL disappoint someone every time.”  Just as there are multiple sides to every story, there are also going to be multiple opinions of every leadership decision.  True leadership is making what you are confident is the right call and moving forward to execute this decision.  Nothing more, nothing less.

24 Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with [Read more…]

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